Fighter against dictatorships: Cardinal Josef Beran

Archbishop, later Cardinal, Josef Beran, become a symbol of opposition to
totalitarian regimes. He was dubbed the archbishop who refused to be
silenced. The punishment for speaking out was imprisonment first under the
Nazi occupation and then the Communists.

Josef Beran was born into a poor Catholic family in Pilsen in 1888. His
father was a teacher in city’s sole Czech school. Sometimes money was so
short there was nothing to put on the table. Years later, Beran recalled
reminding Communist officials that he probably came from a much more
miserable background than them.

Josef was a talented student who was picked for the priesthood by his
religious teacher at the local gymnasium. He had thought about studying
medicine. Through his teacher’s connections in Prague, Josef was sent in
1907 to the Czech college in Rome. He was ordained in 1911 and a year later
was awarded his doctorate in theology.

From 1917 he was professor and later director of a teaching institute in
the centre of Prague. Though not a progressive, Beran marked himself out
for this advanced beliefs on women’s education. Jaroslav Šebek is an
historian at the Czech Academy of Science.

“His activity was mainly in the area of upbringing and education. And if
we can use today’s language we could say that he was concerned with
gender stereotypes because he devoted himself to the role of women from a
Christian viewpoint.”

Beran also distinguished himself by his religious devotion which began
with prayers in church every morning at 4.30.

In 1925 he was appointed director of all Catholic schools. In 1932 he was
made the director of the Prague diocese’s main seminary. During that
period, the seminary was roughly divided equally between German and
Czech-speaking apprentice priests. As events outside ratcheted up tension,
one of Beran’s main tasks was to keep the peace inside its walls. He took
the line that politics should stop at the gate of the seminary. It was a
general line he later tried to maintain against those tried to impose their
political doctrines.

The Nazis were the first of such minded powers after they took over what
was left of the Czech state in March 1939. Beran was chosen in April 1941
to make the radio announcement about the death of Prague archbishop Karel
Kašpar. It was a high risk mission which marked him out.

When the acting Nazi ruler of Bohemia, Reinhard Heydrich, died following an
audacious attack by Czechoslovaks parachuted in from Britain, Beran was one
of the thousands rounded up by the Gestapo in June 1942. He counted himself
lucky not to have been executed along with around 2,300 others. Jaroslav
Šebek:

Reinhard Heydrich“The reason for Josef Beran’s imprisonment by the Nazis was his
patriotic stance which he displayed for example during his address on the
radio to Czech listeners. He called for them not only to be true to their
religious beliefs but also to their country.”

Beran ended up at the German concentration camp of Dachau on the
outskirts of Munich, one of 122 Czechoslovak Catholic priests sent there.
He was close to death at one point with typhus and later said every minute
afterwards was a gift from God. Fellow camp inmates remembered his
religious devotion, optimism and willingness to share his food with those
less fortunate.

On liberation in May 1945, Beran and the survivors, 76 Catholic priests
died from their treatment, returned home in hastily adapted SS uniforms.
There was nothing else for them to wear.

One of the pressing tasks for the Catholic hierarchy was filling the post
of Prague archbishop which had now been vacant for four years. Josef Beran
was immediately seen as a likely candidate who could bring prestige to the
church and counter the rising Communist influence.

“He was perceived as a hero, as a person who took part in the anti-Nazi
resistance. He was crowned with this glory as a victim of Nazi persecution.
I would say that for the Vatican this was a major factor.”

The appointment as head of the Czechoslovak church took effect in November
1946. Archbishop Beran was fully aware that the anti-Catholic Communist
Party was setting the agenda in the National Front government. Punitive
measures began even before the Communist seizure of power in February 1948.

“Already before 1948, for example, the Communist Party ministers tried
to exclude the Church from the field of education and schooling and tried
to make all schools state schools. This did not succeed. But they also
pushed through land reform which again reduced Church property before 1948.
And they also took steps to curb Church publications on the grounds that
there was a shortage of paper after the war.”

Jaroslav Šebek
After the seizure of power there was a sort of stand-off between the two
sides.

“It was the calm before the storm. The Communists were trying
negotiations in order to buy time so that they could prepare for their main
assault upon the Catholic Church. And it is true that the Church then did
not know how the Communists would act. Beran hoped to win time to prepare
for the possible but expected attack.”

A series of negotiations began. But the Communists wanted to tame the
Catholic Church which they identified as the only real challenger to their
power. Postponed moves to bring Catholic schools under state rule were
pushed through as were further seizures of church property. The Communists
demanded a clear declaration of loyalty from the church but Beran was not
willing to give that endorsement. The Communist’ final card was the
attempt to create their own subservient church.

“The reason for the arrest and internment of Archbishop Beran was his
stand on the attempt by the Communists to split the Church by using
collaborators, both from the ranks of priests and lay people. The so-called
Catholic Action movement was aimed at serving Communist goals by creating a
schism in the Catholic Church as occurred in 1920 when the Czechoslovak
Church was founded. That did not happen mainly because Beran very
courageously called on believers to stay loyal to Catholic principles.”

Archbishop Beran began reading out a declaration denouncing Catholic
Action in St. Vitus’ Cathedral on June 19, 1949. He was able to read the
first sentence before his words were drowned out by secret police agitators
packed into the Cathedral. He returned to the archbishop’s palace to find
a handful of officers waiting for him. It was the start of a 16-year regime
of house arrest and imprisonment at various sites around the country.

“He has to live under unrelenting daily police supervision. He was not
allowed to move freely about. He was only allowed the company of nuns who
cared for his domestic needs. Otherwise there was no possibility of contact
with the outside world. He was basically surrounded by the state police. In
the end they tried to take advantage of that situation by trying to
discredit Archbishop Beran by putting aphrodisiacs in his food in the hope
that this would lead to a compromising situation.”

Relations with the Vatican and Communists began to improve in the 1960’s
with talks launched in 1963. One of the key points was what to do about
Archbishop Beran. In 1965 Beran was appointed Cardinal. The Communists
spelled out that they would allow him to go to Rome, but only if he never
returned. Beran was at first unwilling to accept the deal but the Vatican
pointed out that it would at least allow the appointment of a new
archbishop to better defend it. He flew to Rome on February 19, 1965, never
to return to his homeland.

Beran died on May 17, 1969. He was given the singular honour of being
buried alongside previous popes in a crypt at St. Peter’s.